2007-08 NHL season
The 2007-08 NHL season was the 90th season of the National Hockey League. It began on September 29, 2007, and ran through April 6, 2008, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs to follow, culminating no later than June 9, 2008. The 56th NHL All-Star Game was held in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the event at Philips Arena on January 27, 2008. League business The season features Reebok's new Rbk EDGE hockey jerseys. This is the first league-wide uniform innovation "in the history of any major North American professional sports league". Partially due to the league-wide uniform changes, 7 teams (Boston, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Washington, Ottawa, San Jose and Columbus) unveiled new logos prior to the season's beginning. On March 1, 2007, the NHL officially announced the regular season would open on September 29, 2007 with the first of back-to-back games in London, England at The O2. They were the first NHL regular season games ever played in Europe. Both games featured the Anaheim Ducks - who played their first games in their defense of the Stanley Cup - and the Los Angeles Kings (who are owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, the same company that owns The O2). On September 17, 2007, the NHL announced the first outdoor game in over four years would be played between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, on January 1, 2008. The event - which will be known as the AMP NHL Winter Classic - will be the first time an NHL regular-season game has been played outdoors in the United States. The last outdoor NHL game was the Heritage Classic played between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers at Commonwealth Stadium on November 22, 2003. During board of governors meetings held on September 18, 2007 in Chicago, cities including Las Vegas, Kansas City, Seattle, and Winnipeg were discussed as possible expansion destinations. The NHL also discussed the current 'unbalanced' schedule and will vote on a new schedule format at the next board meetings in November, so that all teams will play each other at least once and reduce divisional play in the 2008-09 season. The sale of the Lightning and Predators teams were not completed for board approval.ESPN report, retrieved on September 19, 2007 The New Jersey Devils began playing in their new arena, the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, since it wasn't ready by the beginning of the season, they began their season with a nine-game road trip. Interconference division play had the Northeast travel to the Pacific, the Pacific travel to the Atlantic, the Atlantic travel to the Northwest, the Northwest travel to the Southeast, the Southeast travel to the Central, and the Central travel to the Northeast. The Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators matched up for the first time since the 2007 Stanley Cup Final on March 3, 2008. Mike Cammalleri of the Los Angeles Kings scored the first goal of the season against the Anaheim Ducks on September 29 in the opening game played in London, England. Regular Season ''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points'' Eastern Conference Western Conference Tiebreaking Procedures If two or more clubs are tied in points during the regular season, the standing of the clubs is determined in the following order: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=StandingsPage&type=CON#tieBreak # The fewer number of games played (i.e., superior points percentage). # The greater number of games won. # The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. # The greater differential between goals for and against. Hat tricks See also * 2007 NHL Entry Draft * 2007-08 NHL transactions * 2008 NHL All Star Game Notes External links *Hockey Database *NHL.com